Bulgarian President Sends Condolences to China over Fatal Air Crash

Bulgaria’s President, Georgi Parvanov, sent Wednesday a condolence letter to his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, in connection with the tragic airplane incident which took 42 victims.

In the letter Parvanov expresses sympathies from all Bulgarians and his own for the relatives and the friends of the casualties along with hopes for speedy recovery of the injured.

Earlier Wednesday, BBC reported, citing the Chinese State agency Xinhua, the flight recorder from the plane that crashed in the northern province of Heilongjiang has been found.

Survivors described on TV the panic and terror as the plane tried, but failed, to land safely near the city of Yichun. The vice mayor of Yichun informs that of the 54 injured, three were in critical condition. The pilot was one of the survivors of the crash but has not been able to talk yet due to heavy facial injuries.

The Henan Airlines aircraft, with 91 passengers on board and five crew, burst into flames after overshooting the runway at Yichun City's Lindu airport.

Henan Airlines operates five Embraer ERJ-190 passenger planes.

Causes of the crash remain uncertain, but officials at the scene have noted the heavy fog; others have suggested problems with the Brazilian-made Embraer E-190 jet.

Henan Airlines is a joint venture between Shenzhen Airlines of China and Mesa Air Group of the US, and is based in Henan province. It was previously known as Kunpeng Airlines.

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